The crude reminder of what he did to her was enough to shock her out of her frozen state. She spun, running out of the room and down the hall at full speed. Laughter followed her before the sound of pounding boots chased her down. She’d almost made it to the front door when a hand grabbed her ponytail and jerked her back against a hard chest. Tears leaked from the corner of her eyes from the pain of being held by her hair.
This was it. It was happening again. Her heart pounded out of control as she anticipated the pain to come.
“Where you going? We were just about to get reacquainted.” He circled her throat with his hand, the pressure just enough to have her stilling, then trailed it down the front of her body, squeezing a breast as he went. She trembled as heart-stopping memories assaulted her.
She started to drift off in her mind, going to another place as she prepared for a repeat of the most painful and humiliating experience of her life. His hand began to journey downward, but just as the tips of his fingers brushed the waistband of her jeans, a voice sounded in her head.
Izzy’s voice.
Someone comes after you, you’re not gonna defend yourself, you’re going on the offensive to take the motherfucker out.
Fuck this. Fire shot through her veins as she channeled the feeling of power she’d experienced fighting Jig. It might not work, he might overpower her and hurt her all over again, but this time she was going down fucking swinging.
Never again would she be a helpless victim tied to a bed as men assaulted her.
With a feral cry, Chloe lifted her foot and thrust it straight back with as much force as she could muster. Lefty never saw the attack coming, and when the thick heel of her biker boot slammed into his kneecap, he shouted and released her.
Instead of running for the door, Chloe spun and assumed the fighting stance Jig had taught her. With his attention momentarily on the pain in his knee, Lefty missed her next strike as well. A perfectly executed punch to his gut.
As he doubled over, Chloe straightened to her full height. A high that was positively electric shot through her. She bounced on the balls of her feet, grinning like a maniac. “What’s wrong, fucker? Not exactly how you planned our reunion?”
Lefty growled and charged forward. Chloe dodged right, but not fast enough. His shoulder hit her hip, sending her crashing backward onto the floor, narrowly missing the corner of a coffee table. As she hit the ground, she cried out, stunned for a split-second by the pain in her upper back.
But it was long enough for him to be on her. His fist connected with her cheek in a punch so agonizing, her vision blurred and she swore her face split in two.
Like some kind of wild animal, Chloe fought his attempts to pin her arms above her head. A technique Jig taught her came to mind and she bucked her hips up. Hard. The move unbalanced Lefty, who went tumbling off her body.
Chloe flipped onto her stomach and crawled away as fast as she could. The blood rushing through her ears made it impossible to hear anything. Just as she was about to stand, Lefty’s hand closed around her ankle. As if by instinct, she kicked back with her free leg, connecting with something that had a high-pitched scream coming from Lefty.
As she scrambled to her feet, she risked a glance over her shoulder and saw blood pouring from his lip. A sense of satisfaction fueled her desire to fight even harder. When she reached her kitchen, she stopped fleeing. She could have run, maybe should have run, but she turned back to him. “Come on, fucker.” She pointed to her face which already felt swollen. “This the worst you can do?”
Later she’d probably regret taunting a psychopath, but in the moment with adrenalin coursing through her and the euphoria of finally getting a piece of the man who caused her so much agony, she wanted nothing more than to beat his ass to the ground.
Lefty lunged forward. In the three seconds it took him to reach her, a calm settled over Chloe, and Izzy’s voice sounded in her head yet again. This time reminding her of the sensitive points of the body. The areas to focus on for maximum impact…aka maximum pain.
The groin.
The eyes.
The foot.
The nose.
She opened her hand flat and rammed the heel of her palm upward just as Lefty was reaching for her throat. When she connected with the underside of his nose, the most satisfying crunch reverberated through the room. She’d hit him so hard, his entire body propelled backward. Lefty cried out, his hands immediately flying up to his face.